


Time After Time

by Fish_on_the_tree



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: M/M, Post Fix-It, Vague, it's just the setting for the smut, vague time travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-05-04
Packaged: 2018-10-28 01:45:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10821144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fish_on_the_tree/pseuds/Fish_on_the_tree
Summary: First, they were enemies.When they weren't anymore, Cloud couldn't imagine, what else they could be.





	Time After Time

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Fifth Act](https://archiveofourown.org/works/362128) by [Sinnatious](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sinnatious/pseuds/Sinnatious). 



> This story was inspired by Sinnatious's The Fifth Act, more precisely a sidestory they did to it (available on their LJ page, go and read it cause it's awesome). Go read The Fifth Act if you haven't yet, anyway. It isn't necessary for understanding my fic but who wouldn't want to read such a gem? :D BTW I got permission because Sinnatious is nice like that :)
> 
> For those who haven't read that, this story takes place in a time-travel fic where Cloud goes back in time to save the day, and it's set after everything is said and done, and he starts a new life kinda-sorta in Shinra. The focus is entirely on the relationship between Sephiroth and Cloud. I don't plan getting into the throwing over Shinra from the inside storyline, not that I wouldn't love that, but that's for another time; neither their everything life. It's a loose string of scenes of their interactions with each other, and the developement of their relationship.
> 
> Status is forever ongoing but updates aren't very likely.

First, they were enemies.

At least in his head they were, for the longest time. He feared him. He hated him for all he did, for all the sins he hadn't yet committed but would. Then he saw him, and felt sympathy for the man he was, and felt guilt. He was committed to do anything needed, though. To save everyone, he hadn't thought himself capable of that. But he had done the unimaginable and changed the past, changed it completely, and so changed their future.

And so it happened they became friends. For a while, it was hard, strange, awkward even. He couldn't help the instinctive flinch of his hand – reaching for his sword – when Sephiroth startled him. Couldn't help the increasing of his heartbeat when he suddenly ran into Sephiroth. It always left him feeling slightly ashamed and apologetic as he felt that he should have done a better job sorting out his messed up timelines. This Sephiroth wasn't a threat. He mumbled a half-audible sorry every time and Sephiroth just watched, nodded, looking completely indifferent. It made Cloud wonder on several occasions just how did the man think about the other, the original, events? Sephiroth himself admitted once that he found that outcome plausible under different circumstances. That made Cloud both amazed and extremely uncomfortable. How did one come to terms with the possibility of going insane and trying to destroy the world? Even with the original triggers eliminated, did he not fear himself? Where did that trust come from? Maybe that was just him, feeling himself still a threat. Or Cloud was thinking too deep into things again; it wouldn't be the first time either.

It didn't help his instinctive reactions to Sephiroth's presence though. When the same thing happened the umpteenth time, to Cloud's visible perplexity, Sephiroth just made a small "hmmph" sound and rolled his eyes. Besides making him think that maybe Sephiroth accepted all the strangeness of his life rather easily – (or was it resignation?); it also made Cloud quite stupefied. Sephiroth, rolling his eyes at him? That wasn't adding up with the image he had in his mind even with all the new adjustments he had done.

The easiest part definitely was becoming sparring partners. They were nearly equal in strength without using limit breaks, but both of them tried very hard to be cautious with that. Their limits were way too lethal to use in friendly spars, and if one of them forgot himself in the heat of the battle, the other immediately stepped away. Sephiroth learned the hard way the result of rivalry, even if it didn't end in tragedy now. As for Cloud, every time he forgot he wasn't fighting for his life – which happened quite a few times at the beginning, - he was pulled out of it by seeing the human, sane expression on Sephiroth's face. Every time it was a little stitch to the fabric of his torn timelines, a thread to hold himself in the present and separate the other past further and further away from him. He didn't speak about how knowing for sure that he could overpower the other should the need arise made him feel safe, though. On the other hand, he had no idea how Sephiroth felt about not being the strongest. Did it affect his pride? Did it matter to him at all? While Cloud was certainly piqued to know, that wasn't a question he could have said out loud, ever.

During their spars he soon realized how liberating it was to find someone equally strong. It never occurred to him before how much he felt he had to protect everyone. It never was a burden to him; it was a need, to never lose anybody again. But Sephiroth, he didn't need protection. They were on equal standing, an unfamiliar feeling which soon proved to be quite addictive.

Then there was the connection, too. No matter how much Cloud didn't want to admit it, didn't even want to think about it, their Jenova-cells provided a link between them at a cellular level. As it was an issue they needed to address, after the crisis was over and things settled, they did some careful experimenting with it. Taking every precaution they could think of, they probed the connection, slowly, warily, to try its limits. It was unsettling and hard as hell to allow even the tiniest bit of Sephiroth near his mind (inside, he gritted his teeth, inside his mind); but in the long run it reassured him. Apparently, without the effect of Sephiroth immersing in a pool of mako and merging with Jenova's head in the process, the cells served only a general connection. A compass, as Zack once jokingly said. On rare occasions, in intense emotional states it happened that a flash of foreign emotions washed over them. But that was nowhere near the oppression of being controlled that Cloud perfectly remembered in his nightmares. He wasn't a puppet anymore and with Jenova destroyed, this man could never be the puppet master again. He was finally safe, and finding it out was even worth the irritating feeling of Sephiroth's presence in his mind.

But then there was the attraction too, and that left Cloud strangely vexed. It was a long time before he admitted at least to himself that what he was feeling was indeed physical attraction. It was easy to miss it first, to attribute to the thrill of battle the deeper breaths, the heat increasing in his stomach, the blood surging in his veins. Same as with the alertness, the focus on the other which made everything besides Sephiroth blur colorless into the background. But after their sparring sessions ended and they stood with lowered swords and slightly flushed from hours of exercise, relaxed and refreshed at the same time, he couldn't write off the strange pull he felt, the inclination to step closer, closer until he could feel on his skin, could breath in the heat and presence of the man, and what a presence he had. He found himself absentmindedly tracing Sephiroth's jawline with his eyes, his hand almost, almost lifting on its own to touch. He sucked in a deep breath and turned his back then; confusion raging in him. How could he be attracted to Sephiroth of all people?

And it got worse when he noticed the way Sephiroth watched him. Intent, watchful, contemplating. Burning, at times. Calculating at others but following him all the time. Weeks, even months of this evasive observing continued without Sephiroth making any advances or retreats, always maintaining the same maddening cautious distance. Cloud understood it. Maybe understood it even better than the man itself. Sephiroth wasn't one to be indecisive but he could be extremely cautious in unfamiliar circumstances (if it didn't involve war in some way); gathering information before choosing how to act. The art of initiating human relationships was one such uncertain thing for him, that was clear of all Cloud knew about him. All the same, he wasn't the most adept person either when dealing with others, and this situation simply frayed his nerves.

And Cloud wasn't one to take frustration well. At least not if it involved Sephiroth.

So when the next time they sparred and that same look appeared in Sephiroth's eyes - intense, cautious, yearning - Cloud literally felt something snap inside him.

A sudden seriousness gave him the boost he needed, and maybe Sephiroth still wasn't completely prepared to face someone potentially stronger than him. Cloud got the upper hand of their fight with a quick maneuver and managed to knock Sephiroth off balance straight onto the floor. In an instant he knelt over him, immobilizing him while the man was still surprised by the sudden change of Cloud's behavior. He stabbed the remade Fusion Sword (this time it was regular steel instead of the remains of the Weapon) into the ground next to Sephiroth's head and grabbed him by the collar of his coat. He glared at the man for a moment, the irritation clear by the set of his brows, by the blue of his eyes darkening to a deeper shade; then he leaned down and kissed him. It was more teeth than romance; hard, furious, and heated.

"With you," Cloud's voice was thick with hardly identifiable emotions, "I've learned to take the initiative. Attack before you can." The breath hissed in his throat. "Don't mess with me, Sephiroth. I know you better than you yourself."

Cloud stood up still frowning, and stormed out of the training room, leaving even his sword and an utterly bewildered Sephiroth behind. He rose up to his elbows, staring at the door where Cloud had left like a passing storm. He remained there for a considerable amount of time before falling back onto his back with a small sigh. He had to admit to himself, never in his life he felt more baffled than when trying to deal with Cloud Strife.


End file.
